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NBC News
February 21, 2015

This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>>agreement on freezing
iran's nuclear program
, the talks in
geneva
with the u.s. and five other powers ended early today with progress but no deal. we get more on the story from inning white house correspondent kristen welker.

>> reporter: after talks in
geneva
broke up without a deal, secretary of state
john kerry
defended his negotiating strategy. in exchange for easing some
economic sanctions
. telling
david gregory
on "meet the press" --

>>we are not blind and i don't think we're stupid. we are acting in the interests of our country and of the globe and particularly of our allies.

>>what
iran
gives practically nothing and it gets a hell of a lot. that's not a good deal.

>> reporter: the agreement under discussion would also make it harder for
iran
to develop material that could be used for a
nuclear weapon
. israel said sanctions should stay in place until
iran
dismantles all of the enrichment capabilities.

>>the president has made it clear. he will not reduce or change the overall
core architecture
of the oil sanctions, sanctions.

>> reporter: according to
foreign policy
experts, there was progress in
geneva
but major sticking points remain. does a kneel need to have more teeth for the
international community
to accept it?

>>the israelis have said no enrichment whatsoever. so this could be the
deal breaker
. this assistance on some enrichment but to a very
low level
.

>> reporter: at home some lawmakers are opposed to lifting sanctions.

>>we're going to deal away the leverage that we have where we finally have the willingness to sit down and talk about the issues.

>> reporter: a senior official said any agreement with
iran
would be a first phase into buying time to negotiating a final and broader settlement. lower level talks will resume in ten days.